Tim McGraw Draws Fire From Gun Rights Groups Over Sandy Hook Benefit Concert
My respect for musicians and other celebrities often rises and falls with how they use their fame and fortune. Do they push creative boundaries? Do they support worthy causes? Do they take risks? I'm not a huge country fan, but my respect for Tim McGraw grew exponentially this week.
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Country music star Tim McGraw continued to defend his upcoming performance at a benefit concert for Sandy Hook Promise, saying in a new interview that the show is not meant to be political.
“I don’t put a political blanket on what I’m doing,” McGraw said in an interview with ABC News Radio. “This is about helping people and leading with your heart. I think that that’s what I try to do, and we’re doing things [that] are earmarked for a lot of good in the community.”
McGraw's participation with the benefit has drawn criticism from a number of gun rights groups after an article on conservative news website Breitbart.com stated that the show was a gun control benefit. Sandy Hook Promise is a non-profit group founded by family members who lost loved ones in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, with a mission statement of working to promote mental wellness, combat social isolation, and preventing gun violence.
McGraw's involvement with the group stems meeting Mark Barden, a father who lost a child in the shooting whom McGraw met through his longtime fiddle player, Dean Brown.
“When you sit across from a family who’ve gone through such a great tragedy, it’s just heartbreaking. And when you sit and have a conversation and you feel connected and they want you to help, and you feel like you can help, then you lead with your heart,” he says. “When you talk about protecting our kids from violence and doing everything you can to protect our children, I’m all in," McGraw said. – via Celebrity Access
apparently, the pro-child mass murder lobby doesn’t approve.
“When you talk about protecting our kids from violence and doing everything you can to protect our children, I’m all in,” McGraw said”
“Everything” means freedom too. If we’re all in for everything that keeps kids safe, then we need to give up all freedom to maximize safety. If that sounds like I’m over the top… tell someone 200 years ago what this country and our lack of freedom looks like today and they would say “no way people would put up with that, that’s insane”. This won’t stop until we give up all freedoms or we experience a reset. If you don’t believe that, that may be because you are not aware of our own relative perspective (see example from 200 years ago and think about where we are in 200 (even 20) years from today).
It’s not a freedom, it’s my right. Isolated incidents don’t count. ANY weapon could have been used. The kid needed help, not the amendment right.